NAPA — What’s the word on the Khalil Mack situation, now moving close to a two-week holdout and generating increasingly antsy reports across the NFL universe? Well, I asked two relatively important Raiders officials about it on Tuesday, and what I got were … relatively few words.

Which, I believe, means this isn’t at the boiling point yet and all logical indications are that the most likely result is that Mack will be in uniform for the Raiders for the season opener against the Rams on Monday night, Sept. 10.

He might not get all of the money he wants, he might not be thrilled, the Raiders might not be too happy, either, but I believe there are no glaring indications that Mack will be an ex-Raider, or pushed to the brink, or still holding out at that point.

That’s my reading of this, and I could be wrong — you can never truly predict how big-time negotiations might play out under extreme pressure, and both sides are heading...